My health has been slowly but surely deteiorating for a few years now. It started with recovery times from having a few beers at the weekend where the hangovers extended into the week along with fatigue which I just put down to being over weight and my age.
So I finished work and decided to try and get into shape with a balanced diet and exercise. It's been hard work but I've shed 4.5 stones but don't feel any better for it. I started getting all sorts of symptoms which have over this year been dynamic but the worst and most prevalent is the persistent rhinitis I have.
In the search for an answer I convinced myself I had coeliacs disease so I've been off the gluten for 8 weeks now, same with the milk although I have consumed a little milk in some products. I've now come off the alcohol but that's only been a week.
I saw my GP on Friday, she has a revolving door, as soon as you walk in you find yourself in the corridor outside and walking out of the building. She just doesn't listen, she just talks, she was in such a good mood, maybe being the last day of work I just couldn't get a word in.
I've had diarrhoea for a few months now but this has changed the past week to constipation.
My symptoms are as follows,
1) Fatigue-no energy.
2) Tiredness- can easily sleep over 9 hours.
3) Rhinitis- usually stuffy nose.
4) Upper chest congestion/thick mucus and difficult to move.
5) Tingling finger ends.
6) Pruney fingers where the finger ends wrinkle like I've just got out of the bath.
7) Lightheadedness and dizziness- scary at times.
8) Brain fog- I park the car- get 2 hours free parking and then can't remember what time I parked it up.
9) Depression.
10) Anxiety.
11) Occasional stomach cramps.
12) Feeling cold- when all around don't.
13) Redness in the cheeks.
14) Bouts of insomnia- Yes, direct opposite to items 1+2 on my list.
15) General feeling of being unwell.
Within 2 hours of coming out of the Doctors on Friday I felt most of these symptoms hit me, I was shopping with my wife and gripped onto the shopping trolley for dear life.
The next morning I filled out an e-consult for the Doctors surgery which allows you to put all your symptoms in and asks if there's anything you think they should do so I've requested Thyroid checks.
I'm not sure what all that entails. I'm now afraid (after reading some posts) that the Doctor may deny me any tests.
Being an Engineer, I always like some contingency in anything I try and do, so could I get my own test done at Nuffield Hospital? I have one near me in Southampton. Wouldn't that annoy my GP if I was found to be Hypo after she'd tried to deny me any tests or am I just being anxious about nothing again.
Thanks for reading, if you got this far, LOL.
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Sotonowl
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Your need the following - TSH- FT4 - FT3 and Thyroid Anti-bodies TPO & Tg. also B12 - Folate - Ferritin and VitD. Some of your symptoms sound like vitamin deficiencies - especially LOW B12.
When you have results with ranges - do post again starting a new thread ....
Thanks for the reply. I've had a look at the Blue Horizon site and I'm thinking of getting the "Thyroid Check 15" with a home nurses visit. This is what it covers,
TSH, FT4, FT3, TT4, Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies,Thyroglobulin Antibodies, Ferritin ,Folate, Vitamin B12 (NOT ACTIVE B12), C Reactive Protein, Vitamin D (25 OH), REVERSE T3, Insulin, HbA1c, Magnesium.
Do you think that will cover everything? I'm just learning at the moment but I will try and catch up.
It's a bit pricey but hey ho, got to be worth it as long as I'm not barking up the wrong tree.
I'll probably wait for a few days and speak to my GP (after Christmas) to see how she'll view this, may be better to try and keep her on board so to speak.
Yes that looks good 😊From reading many posts here it is possible you could meet with a negative response from your GP as so many of the important tests are not done by the NHS. I would go it alone if it were me. Report back here with a new post when you have the results 😊
I agree on going it alone. A GP who talks all through a consult you are paying for does not deserve this courtesy. Just use her for whatever she is useful for (if anything.)
If you watch the web sites of the two lab companies linked through Thyroiduk , they generally have price offers on Thursdays.
Whether your GP would be annoyed or not, or need to know what you are planning, is largely irrelevant if the purpose of you having a set of private blood tests is to inform YOU comprehensively about the possible underlying causes of your symptoms - not least if, as you say, she doesn't listen anyway. At your most recent appointment she had the opportunity to order whatever tests she thought were relevant in response to what you told her, but didn't. I'd hazard a guess that most of us who go down the route of having bloods tested privately wouldn't inform or debate it with our GP, because there's no need to, it's just us getting some information about ourselves, in exactly the same way that many of us are now having genetic tests to identify if there are any inherent reasons for us not getting well on standard treatments; but the bottom line is that our Dr's failure to respond/treat (effectively if at all) is often one of the key reasons we are doing it in the first place..... But as with all things health, we each have to plough our own furrow and decide what's best for us in our own circumstances.
Thanks for the reply. I do understand we as individuals have to take responsibility for our own health. The reason I want to keep her onside is that if I am Hypo like I suspect then I'm going to need her help at some time when I present her with the results. For example, if she is aware of me getting the tests done then it won't come as a surprise to her and she should be more helpful hopefully. If I turn up with a set of test results she may think that don't rate her advice, which is true but why upset her. Problem is that I'm going to need prescriptions from her aren't I? Or is this not the case? How do I get the treatment I need without involving her?
Can't see the point in ruffling her feathers, not yet anyway. I'll keep the powder dry for now.
I wouldn't necessarily wait to get the OK from your GP, I get the impression they would simply say it's up to you how you spend your money.
What I would recommend as well, if you can afford to, is seeing a nutritionist. They are pretty good at identifying potential illnesses and nutrient deficiencies, and have far more time to sit with you than a GP (we're talking a 1 hour consult versus a 10 minutes consult). Take the results of your thyroid test along with you.
Did you get a coeliac test before going gluten free at all? Because someone who has coeliac disease needs to take extra steps to avoid cross-contamination from gluten containing foods. For example, we had to bin our toaster and a lot of our cookware, as it was contaminated.
I've not been tested for Coeliacs Disease. In retrospect I don't think I have it but I've read that much about the negative effects of gluten it did make me wonder why you'd want to eat the stuff anyway. So, for now I'm going to leave it alone.
The Doctor will be on the phone I think on the 28th December as I've done an e-consult and they're obliged to respond within 24 hours of the surgery being open so it won't delay the testing as Blue Horizon will probably be shut for Christmas anyway.
I will look into the nutritionist as well, thanks for the reply.
Make sure you find someone registered with BANT (British association of nutritional therapists) - the title of nutritionist isn't protected, so technically I could do a 5 minute course online & call myself a nutritionist, but someone registered with BANT will be properly qualified.
My OH has coeliac disease, and I have Hashimotos, and a lot of the symptoms are very similar. Both conditions benefit from going gluten free, but if you have neither, consider reintroducing gluten (you could maybe try wheat free instead of fully gluten free). I am not an advocate of being gluten free unless you have to be (it causes you to develop gluten intolerance in the long run).
Yes, the Doctor says to re-introduce gluten steadily which I plan to do in a few weeks but i'll continue to monitor the amount I consume. I'd prefer to leave it a few weeks until I see where the alcohol abstinence takes me, don't want any trials to over lap so to speak.
I'll do a search for a properly qualified BANT advisor. Thanks for the reply again, hope you both feel better soon, best wishes for the season to you both.
Yes I know it does. I don't think I am Coeliac, as I said in my post above, I stopped drinking alcohol last week and I want to study my symptoms after giving up alcohol before starting to eat gluten again. If there is a change in symptoms I want to know what has caused it.
It was advice given to me by a coeliac charity - my partner was diagnosed with Coeliac disease, and I gave up gluten for his benefit. A charity worker warned that cutting gluten out can lead you to develop an intolerance, which can cause issues for you down the line (particularly with medications).
When looking for your Nutritionalist I would try and seek a recommendation- I have experience of a BANT Registered Nutritionalist who seemed to spend most of the time I was paying through the nose for, telling me how she worked. I am absolutely sure however that there are lots of superb Nutritionalists who are BANT registered. As you are in the South you will not come across the same one I went to
They do appear to be a bit thin on the ground around me. I need to speak with someone, every time I seem to eat something my nose just dries up, just gets me down.
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